New capital committed to Australian venture capital and later stage private equity funds decreased by 77 per cent ($2.4 billion) in the 2012-13 financial year according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

"This is the largest decrease we have seen since we first started publishing this data for the 2004-05 financial year," said Ms Tracey Rowley, Assistant Director ofResearch and Development Surveys

"It appears Australian funds found it difficult to attract further capital from investors on the back of a peak capital raising period last financial year.

"Ongoing investments are revalued each year, and this year resulted in an increase of $906 million, which is the highest figure in over 10 years", Ms Rowley said.

The survey includes information on fund commitments and drawdowns by source of funds, assets and liabilities of the venture capital and later stage private equity funds, financing flows between the funds and their investors and investee companies and the stage and industry characteristics of venture capital deals undertaken during the latest financial year.